Setlist (from what I remember... songs may be out of order... help me out Mike) from August 31, 2004 in Seattle.



Prince (and Seattle) were far more into it tonight. Word of $10 tickets spread like wildfire in Seattle via multiple places on the internet. (At one point, using the code word PRINCE all you had to pay was a 75 cent convenience fee at the box office window. If you used that code online, you had to pay a $3.05 fee to Ticketbastard, but still $3.80 to see Prince is a steal.) I nearly dragged my Mom and sister along tonight, but it was too last minute. (Both live too far out of Seatle to make it in time.) I almost got busted for standing at the Ticketmaster window telling people the code word PURPLE so they could get $10 tickets...

Anyways, the concert started later tonight than last night (8:30ish) and lasted until about 10:45. The crowd was getting revved up before the lights even went down. Joan Rivers should've been there, because I think Beyoncé's mother, or Sinbad's sister was dressing some folks. Down the stairs to the NPGMC's member section came Prince from 1982. Except it wasn't. Then there was the gold butterfly/bra bikini top on the woman that shouldn't have been wearing it. Lots of fashion no-nos. Far too many of us (myself included) forget sometimes that it's not 1984 anymore Some of our bodies have changed since then! Please stop wearing what you wore at the Purple Rain tour twenty years later!

But like I said, Seattle was into it tonight. All of those $10 ticket holders up in the balcony were stomping and (respectfully) fussing for him to come out, and when he did he had a lot more fun than last night.

During "U Got The Look", the usual girls were brought up on stage, but by the end of the song, he had brought up a couple more who were energetic, but weren't very good dancers. He put them all on one side of the stage. He wasn't being mean about it. They were all laughing and having a good time, including the red head who was 2 rows in front of me who when she realized where she was sitting before the show began, screamed "Fuck yeah!"

The guy from Kent was no where to be found last night, but an older gentleman was brought up on stage and danced around about as bad as I would have. Between him and the red head getting up on stage to do her "hippy dance" (how many of you thought it was going to start raining?), it was like watching a train wreck, but a train wreck where everyone was enjoying themselves

Seattle missed out on "Whole Lotta Love" , but did get to sing-a-long to Prince's version of the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" (with new lyrics), and "The Rules". Seattle, as you know... loves it's sports I doubt it's been that loud in Key Arena since the Sonics were in the NBA Finals against the Bulls.

The encore was cut short again. Prince didn't play "The Beautiful Ones", "SOTT", "Adore", "HCUDCMA", "The One", "Nothing Compares 2 U" or "Whole Lotta Love" during his 2 night stop in Seattle.

But he did kill tonight on "Shhh" and "Call My Name".

I'm sorry to those of you whose feet I may have stepped on (and one lady's purse) as I exited quickly while Renato was the last on the stage. I had to get to work. I clocked in at 11:07, just minutes after calling out to meechelle steps before she entered her apartment...

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[Edited 9/1/04 1:48am]

was #12 What a Wonderful World - Maceo style?

yes, tonight was on. maybe they got some extra sleep, but you could feel him tonight - there was just a little more on everything. his guitar work was incredible. i was just too impressed for words...

i was in the free seats up top opposite of where i was last night (behind John down front).....so i got to see the rest of the stage and the show. it was definitely worth it!

the only thing that bugged me is the sound - as hard as John bangs the drums, i couldn't hear them for anything - even when i was right behind him - i guess expected more when a musician was featured.

still one of the best shows i have ever seen!

p.s. what about my drive by?

meechelle said:

yes, i grabbed that from the philly setlist

yeah, i am surprised he didn't rock "Whole Lotta Love"... i thought for sure he'd hit that tonight... the guitar solo at the end of "Shhh" went on way longer than the boot of the Orlando show... if he does do this rumored jazz album, i hope he does include a cover of "Lopsy Lu", because that 30 seconds went by way too fast... again, the musical highlight of the show (for me anyways)...

apparently prince couldn't hear john either, because even after telling him to play with his foot, john did... and prince continued to ask him to, then john did something else and prince asked him if he was retarded... (it may have been a skit, i'm kind of dumb about that stuff heheh)

same here

heheh, sorry, but i was already late!

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[Edited 9/1/04 0:36am]

ugh - i forgot....i loved chance doing No Diggity & Knock on Wood...and you are most certainly on point - the snippet of Lopsy Lu was ridiculous.

meechelle said:

can you imagine a jam of that? here's to hoping he performs a full version of that at an aftershow (or a rehearsal) and it ends up on the NPGMC for 77 cents

i have a version of chance doing 'no diggity' in maui that will probably never be topped... if you thought the guitar playing tonight was good... it was crazy that night.

i lived in maui and worked at that restaurant/club 5 years too early... sigh

Damn, that was fun. I loved No Diggity and What a Wonderful World. . .very cool.

And. . .um. . .since Dude From Kent wasn't available this evening, there was this chick whom he called up on stage during DMSR. . .and. . .uh. . .she thought that was. . .neat.


Damn. That. Was. Fun.

tackam said:

I told her before the show that she'd probably be asked on stage, but no, she didn't believe me.



Prince asked, and tackam delivered. Well done, my love.

tackam said:

now i'm just dying to know which one of the dancers you were

it looked like you were all having fun

suomynona said:

I was the one pulled up during DMSR.

I am not a dancer. . .I don't even dance at clubs. . .but it was fun. And I got stopped 40 million times leaving the Arena by people saying nice things. Weird combination of being elated and mortified.

tackam said:

omg, you were fantastic! i don't know if you could hear it when you were brought up, but the crowd loved you

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[Edited 9/1/04 1:38am]

suomynona said:

Thank you.


And no, I didn't really hear the crowd over the roar of "omigodOHSHITomigod" going through my head. But people afterwards were very sweet.


[Edited 9/1/04 1:39am]

suomynona said:

I tried to tell her afterwards, but again, she didn't believe me.

matt said:

she has great moves too

i think she prematurely got off stage though... i don't think prince would've minded if she would've stayed a while longer

suomynona said:

Heh. Well, Greg Boyer made some motion to me that looked like "bye bye, now", and I didn't want to be removed by security, so. . .

tackam said:

c'mon now, that's just the trombone player! i wouldn't have been worried until chance made a move towards you

suomynona said:

Well, yeah, and part of me was thinking, "bitch, please, Prince asked me up here and Prince can ask me to leave." But really, there was a limit to how long I wanted to be up there. Eek.

tackam said:

understood i told those on both sides of me if i was asked, that i'd play dumb and one of them could go instead

Oh, yeah, I guess I owe Prince an apology. During both Seattle shows, he introduced "Let's Work" with a comment about taking us "back to 1982." And since the Controversy album was released in 1981, I figured that Prince had gotten a little sloppy with fact-checking and remembering his own release dates.

However, upon further research, I've found that "Let's Work" was released as a single (including the sought-after 12" version) in January 1982. So I think it's perfectly reasonable to introduce it as a "1982" song.

Sorry about that, Prince.

matt said:

lol... i'm sure he was all broken up over it

I was at the second show yesterday. I got there early and waited around the gates to see if I could watch him come in. I also hoped that I could slip him my cd even though I know he can't take it and that he's notoriously arrogant. Figured it was worth a try being no one else was around. He snuck in good, I saw everyone else but him.
As for the show I have to say that this was the best concert I've ever been to. He's lost a step physically but not much and even though I could tell his voice was worn in some ranges from constant touring, he is a better singer than he ever was. He played guitar better than ever and most importantly, I could feel that he was truly in concert with the people in a way that was not possible for him before. He seemed to have more fun than the audience and that was probably the best part for me being a musician and trying to learn from one of the few masters we have around today. Thought it was interesting that he sang his more sexually explicit songs and didn't really change alot of his lyrics, he's not as uptight as I thought he would be. He seemed to all but abandon the "teaching" aspect that this tour was advertised as probably because it was a selling point that had lost it's usefullness. I watched the front rows way down there with jealousy but understanding, you are the fans who never lost faith and deserved to be close to the stage. I'm a huge fan but almost as much because I am a musician as liking his music. The highlight for me was Little Red Corvette which I performed at an open mic a couple weeks ago and was basically the start of my love with music 21 years ago. I cried a little, partly because you realize how fast time goes by and partly because I am so thankful to this guy who is basically my musical father. Music saved my life you see and is the most wonderful thing in it.

The 'It Aint Over' chant was part of some song in there.

parker said:

so was 'the glamourous life/love bizarre intro to 'i feel for you'...

What an amazing concert!

This was my first concert ever, and I was lucky enough to see prince.

I thought the Rave dvd was good, but there was so much energy. I heard that seattle crowds suck, but they seemed to enjoy it. No one in my section sat except for the ray charles tribute.

I still can't believe I saw Prince!

suomynona said:

Heh. But I did catch an actual "mistake" of sorts both nights.

Remember the part of the show where Maceo and Greg wear academic attire? The tassels (complete with a metal instead of the graduation year) were cool, but:

• They were white, which is the wrong color. There's an elaborate code for academic attire, and white is the color of the liberal arts. (I had a white tassel when I received my B.A. with a political science major.) The color for music, however, is pink. Hence the pink velvet on Maceo's doctoral hood. (The black and crimson satin lining of the hood represents the colors of the institution granting the degree.)
  
• They wore the tassels on the wrong side; i.e., the right side. A tassel on the right indicates that the wearer has no degree, whereas a tassel on the left indicates that the wearer has earned a degree. At a university's commencement ceremony, those receiving bachelor's degrees are asked at some point to turn the tassel from the right to the left. However, those receiving a master's or doctoral degree wear theirs on the left from the beginning and leave them there. (Admittedly, only Maceo was wearing a doctoral gown, which is easily identified by the three velvet bars on the sleeves. Greg was wearing a bachelor's gown.)
  

Of course, I expect that Prince will send me a full refund for these unacceptable and serious mistakes.

(Update: Oops, this will teach me to check my facts before I post. There actually isn't a "rule" on whether the tassel should be worn right or left. However, the convention I described is used at many institutions, including my alma mater, Indiana University. I still stand by my pink versus white statement, though.)
[Edited 9/2/04 1:23am]